


Bruce Returning

by Bluebritt5



Series: Returning to gotham [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Batfamily (DCU), Brothers, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Lost in Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 17:35:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21201470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluebritt5/pseuds/Bluebritt5
Summary: Bruce has a lot to adjust to, now that he is no longer stuck in time.





	Bruce Returning

**Author's Note:**

> this one is hard to write so it will probably only be about three chapters and may take longer to write since all my ideas swirling around in my head pertain to the third/fourth installment of this series.

Bruce had been stuck in the time stream for quite some time. It was hard to keep track of exactly how long he was trapped. He would be in one time from, then after a few days he was pulled into another time. Bruce had run with dinosaurs, lived with samurai, met many different celebrities, and sent clues to those in the present time. Tim would eventually figure out his clues, but he had to make sure he found them first. 

One day a portal suddenly appeared in front of him and Tim stepped out. He was in a totally different uniform, but he could still tell it was Tim under the suit. The uniform was red and black with two yellow utility belts that cross over each other and connect to a yellow and black symbol in the center of his chest. The symbol was a bird. The suit covers every inch of skin. It looked like it connected to his gloves and boots, plus there was a cowl pulled back off his head, but he had on a domino mask. 

Tim reached out for Bruce’s hand. “Come on Bruce, I am taking you home. Hold on tight and when you grab hold onto something on the other side pull with all your might. The portal resistance is strong.” Tim hooked the two of us together, then headed for the portal. 

The boy did not lie, it was exhausting to pull myself out of the portal. When we finally got to the other side it was a blur for a bit as I collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. I remember a lot of yelling, heat, and wind, before I was picked up and rushed into another room. It looked like a kitchen maybe. There were lots of other people, but I must have drifted off to sleep or something. 

I awoke when Wonder Girl took me into her arms bridal style and carried me back into the portal room. It looked like a living room, except the furniture was all pushed to the sides and in the middle was a large metal door frame that looked partially dismantled. 

“What just happened?” Dick demanded in a tone that could rival my own Batman voice.

“Wow! You really have worked on getting that Batman voice down. It didn’t work on me when I was Robin, so now it has even less effect.” Tim stated. “Bruce, how are you feeling?”

It took me a little bit to realize he had spoken to me. “It is a little disorienting, but I knew you would figure out my clues. Thank you, son.”

The rest of my family seemed to suddenly recall what had happened. “Bruce? Is that really you?” Jason had half raised his hand as he spoke like he was wanting to reach out and touch me to confirm I was real. Jason and I had been on rocky ground before I disappeared, I was glad to see we would not have to start all over again. 

I reach out and squeezed Jason’s hand. “Yes, it is me. I am so glad to be back with all of you. How did you get me out?”

“I built a time doorway of sorts. I used …. well let’s just say I used some hard to obtain chemicals and artifacts to combine science and magic. Then I had Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash provide the power and energy to get it opened, while Psionic, Blue Beetle and I pulled you out. It could only be active for one minute before overloading, but it took longer to find you then expected. Resulting in the doorway being active for 58 seconds and coming close to overload. It is inert now.” Tim spoke like he was giving a report, no emotion. Something is wrong here. 

I pushed out of Cassie’s arms to stand up on my own. I stared at Tim and each one of the Titan’s faces making eye contact with each, “Thank you for bringing me home to my family.”

Dick, and Steph could not seem to wait any longer as they both rushed to hug me. Steph pulling Cass along with her, and Dick dragging Damian and Jason with him as they piled on. I had never felt so happy to have a group hug from my kids, but one was missing. 

I look over to find Tim and see him slipping out of the house with the Titans. I will let him say bye and thanks to his friends.  
“Is that pizza I smell?” my stomach was growling. 

Jason laughs “anything to get out of a group hug,” he pulls out and walks into the kitchen. “I am sure Tim will not mind us eating some of this.”

He walks back in the room with two plates of pizza and a water. Jason passes me the plate with supreme pizza and the bottle of water, then moves to one of the couches with the other plate. “I am not making anyone else’s plate and Bruce don’t get use to me waiting on you.”

“I would never expect you to.” I smile at him as the others laugh and head off to get food. 

They all settled on the couch eating as they talk about how happy they are to have me back. When Tim walks back in, they all immediately stop talking and turn to look at him.

“Don’t stop on my occasion, I just need to dismantle this device and clean up the place before I head home.” Tim turned his back on us and starts dismantling the doorway. I have no idea why the room feels so uncomfortable. When did Tim become an outsider to the family?

“Thank you for saving Bruce.” Dick said as he stood and rushed Tim for a hug. 

Tim seems to react on instinct. He ducked under Dick arms, spinning around knocking Dick’s feet out from under him. Then he continued in same motion to bring his hand down in a chop to the neck. Tim barely stopped his hand from contacting Dick. Wow! He has become quite skilled and fast, but why does he feel the need to be on guard with only the family here. 

He took a deep breath, then quickly stood up and took a step back, while remaining on edge and scanning the others. Jason was just standing up pizza sliding to the floor and moving to Dick. Cass had been faster she was only two steps from where Tim had been standing. I had been watching waiting to see how everyone else was reacting, so I was half standing. Stephanie was moving to help Dick up. Damian was charging Tim and had already adjusted his path to Tim’s new position. Tim had assessed this in a matter of seconds.  
Turning to face Damian, Tim quickly dropped to avoid the high kick aimed at his face. He reached up and grabbed Damian’s back leg as he flew past Tim. Tim swung Damian around and tossed him towards Cass, who caught him and gently set him down while still holding onto his wrist. Tim ended with his back towards the exit door, hands in the air openly showing he did not wasn’t to fight more, and full view of the room’s occupants. Very impressive. He took down two perceived threats and got himself lined up with a free exit in a matter of second. All while not injuring anyone worse than a bruise or two. 

“Tim, what was that?” I could not believe how much his skill had grown, come to think of it I don’t know how long I have been gone. 

Jason was standing beside Cass, who were in front of Dick and Damian. Dick is just starting to rise from the floor and Damian is helping him to stand. Stephanie had a surprised look on her face but was moving to stand between Tim and myself. I move to cut her off by walking slowly towards Tim with his hands spread wide.

“Bruce, I am glad I was able to get you back, but a lot has changed while you were gone.” His face turns to a glare that encompasses them all. “I will know if anyone touches or tries to dismantle the machine, so please leave it as is. I will return when you all leave to finish the clean-up.” Tim turned and disappeared out the door.

The room was quiet for what felt like hours but was minutes. “What was that all about?” Bruce said as he pulled his eyes from the door Tim left by to face the room.

“Tim is right. A lot has happened and changed since you left. Tim convinced us that someone needed to impersonate you, while another needed to take over the batman mantle. He convinced us that it was the right way to do it, that way Bruce Wayne’s death would not coincide with the death of Batman or the change in Batman’s character. I took it wrong and tried to steal the Bat suit and take down criminals the way Red Hood would. When Tim confronted me, I tried to get him to be my Robin. He refused and I threw a batarang into his shoulder. Thus, we had the battle for the cowl. Which Dick won, since he had the backing of Tim, Damian, and Barbara. I was angry at them all for a while but snapped out of it when Dickhead tried to have Tim committed to Arkham. The kid really did sound crazy as he tried to convince me that you were still alive. When he realized I did not believe him, he left Gotham. It has been about year since I have seen him. While he was gone, Dick and I set up a deal. I stopped killing and he stopped messing with my cases and plans. I have been getting closer to the family.” 

While Jason had been talking Cass and Steph had been cleaning up the food and kitchen. Dick was on his phone talking to Babs and Damian was taking pictures of the machine in the middle of the room. Other then the furniture and the machine in the living room the house was back in order. When Tim came back to clean up, he would only have to mess with the machine and furniture. 

“Ok. Babs has the house scanned there are cameras and microphones in here. She has the sound disrupted and is ready to loop the city feeds as soon as we are at the closest safe house with uniforms. We can double back and try and talk with Tim.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea. Confronting him like this will only make him avoid us more. You saw how he reacted to you just approaching him.” Damian had his arms crossed over his chest. 

Bruce had been silent trying to take it all in. “I think you should give him some time. Confront him tonight, but only to tell him you want to talk to him but will wait for him to approach. Then after this we should all rest up tonight, before catching me up on everything tomorrow.”

They left the house and got into the car and drove off. Once they reached the safe house the others quickly split up and went to surround Tim, while Bruce continued to the mansion. 

Alfred greeted him at the door. They hugged and tears did not flow down their faces. 

“I am overjoyed to see you again, Master Bruce.” Bruce was truly happy to be home.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you think I need to add different or more tags


End file.
